Bitfinex, the world’s largest bitcoin exchange with a $657 million daily trading volume, has vowed to pursue legal action against critics.
In a statement provided to Coindesk, Bitfinex in-house counsel Stuart Hoegner disclosed the company’s decision to cooperate with law firm Steptoe & Johnson to challenge “bad actors” in the space that have allegedly provided “false information” to “agitate the cryptocurrency ecosystem.”
“To date, every claim made by these bad actors has been patently false and made simply to agitate the cryptocurrency ecosystem. As a result, Bitfinex has decided to assert all of its legal rights and remedies against this agitator and his associates,” said Hoegner.
Bitfinex Vs. Bitfinex’ed
Bitfinex and its legal team opted not to reveal the identities of the “bad actors” in the space the company intends to sue. But, Bitfinex public relations executive Ronn Torossian said in an statement that the community would be able to infer the particular individual the firm is pursuing.
“I think you can infer who,” said Torossian. Bitfinex further emphasized that the claims critics such as Bitfinex’ed have made against the company can be considered as market manipulation activity that is dishonest and unlawful. Bitfinex explained, “In recent months, certain parties and their associates have made false and unsubstantiated claims against Bitfinex, engaging in potential market manipulation activity that is dishonest and unlawful.”
Earlier today, on December 5, Bitfinex’ed released a statement to the cryptocurrency community, reaffirming that the lawsuit of Bitfinex will be defended. Bitfinex’ed claimed that the company attempted to “silence” critics including him or herself.
“I am officially seeking donations to defend myself against Bitfinex’s frivolous lawsuit, rather than showing their numbers they seek to silence me,” wrote Bitfinex’ed.
Within six hours since the statement of Bitfinex’ed was released, Bitfinx’ed received 1 bitcoin in donation, equivalent to $11.500.
“Whoever just sent me 1 BTC, Thank you. The funds send to my Bitcoin address will be used for legal costs only,” said Bitfinex’ed.
Other Industry Experts Weigh-In
Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin and former executive at $1.6 billion bitcoin brokerage Coinbase, weighed in on the Tether and Bitfinex controversy. Lee encouraged Bitfinex and the Tether development team to provide evidence that each Tether is backed with US dollar reserve and to conduct a third-party audit.
“There’s a fear going on that the recent price rise was helped by printing of USDT (Tether) that is not backed by USD in a bank account. I urge Bitfinex and Tether to to perform a 3rd party audit to prove their reserves. Please do the right thing. Thanks,” said Lee.
Given that Bitfinex remains as largest bitcoin exchange in the global market, and that the recent Tether controversy has negatively impacted the reputation of Bitfinex, industry leaders such as Lee have noted that performing a third party audit to prove the exchange and Tether’s solvency would be beneficial for both the company and the entire cryptocurrency community in the long-term.